UK management skills lacking

Alexandra Frean, a business columnist of The Times, claims: “The most accessible solution to Britain’s low-productivity problem is the presence in virtually every workplace of accidental managers” i.e. people who are promoted to positions quite different to past jobs where they did well

She says they cannot be thrown in at the deep end – and they’re not born to manage – so they need good training

Ann Francke, head of the CMI (Chartered Management Institute) reckons up to four out of five bosses in Britain are ‘accidental managers’ and so are not performing to their full ability

Hence, organisations with good management development programmes perform 23% better than others and their employees are roughly a third more productive (as measured by engagement and retention)

A recent IIP (Investors in People) report suggests £84 billion is wasted in the UK each year through poor people management

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Development) lists improved management and leadership as the outstanding factor in tackling the (UK’s) productivity gap

And Andy Haldane, chief economist at the BoE (Bank of England) says: “There are potentially high returns to policies which improve the quality of management within companies”

Hence there’s great excitement over the new chartered management degree apprenticeshipjust launched which is linked to the government’s apprenticeship levy – they usually take three years to complete with students in full-time employment while learning plus their companies can apply to the apprenticeship levy fund to cover the £9,000 a year in tuition fees for the courses

It’s a new breed of degree-level apprenticeship being created by employers to meet their needs

It also meets national needs for GDP growth and students’ needs for good qualifications at fair prices